I’m offline as I wait for swim practice to end, unless I piggyback onto somebody’s unsecured wireless. And what if that connection is owned by a hot-tempered someone who might see me and take a baseball bat to my windshield because he thinks I gave him the Melissa virus?
I often wait in the car for kids to finish various activities—it’s a major part of my job description.
To pass the time I usually work on my iBook in the car. One afternoon (during a piano lesson) a box popped onto the iBook screen and asked if I wanted to join a wireless connection called “Shannon.” I did, and in seconds I was surfing the internet right there in front of the piano teacher’s house.
I’m kind of slow on the uptake—I didn’t realize all the hotspot possibilities until more and more unsecured connections began to offer themselves up to my iBook— but it finally sank in that I could be actively surfing during ALL of my waiting time. And since I wait an average of 15 hours a week, we’re talking about a lot of surfing.
After this Wi-Fi Paradigm Shift, I became a shameless Wi-Fi Hussy. I’d drive around until I caught a connection strong enough that I could park and work online. My favorite spot was a strip mall parking lot with several business connections only two minutes from the pool.
Life was good, but I felt guilty, especially when the connection was a residential one. No matter how I looked at it, I was taking something I hadn’t paid for. But should I be feeling guilty? Is using an unsecured wireless connection really illegal?
I did some research and learned there was a term for this: “War Driving.”
Wardriving is an activity consisting of driving around with a Wi-Fi-equipped computer, such as a laptop or a PDA, in one’s vehicle, detecting Wi-Fi wireless networks.—Wikipedia
I try so hard to be a real geek, and there I was, being geeky as all get out without even realizing it.
Unfortunately, there’s a dark side to this geekish use of the Force, according to Microsoft.com:
A wardriver who has successfully accessed your network could anonymously hijack your Internet connection, steal personal information stored on your network, intercept file transfers, or even use your computer as a type of “zombie” to send out spam or malicious software that could be traced back to you.
Scary, but it doesn’t describe me; a swim team mom who only wants to receive a wireless connection and get some genealogy research done while she’s waiting for kids to finish up. There’s a big difference between receiving a wireless signal vs. actively entering someone’s computer to take information.
It’s more like being like one of the “boat people” at Humphrey’s, listening to a concert in a kayak rather than paying for a ticket and sitting inside.
Isn’t it?
And how would people know what I’m doing is perfectly innocent? Especially when reports like this one let two geek teenagers tell the world exactly what war drivers can do to unsecured homeowners, like give their computers a virus or steal private information.
I like Paul Boutin’s point of view:
Lose the guilt. The FCC told me that they don’t know of any federal or state laws that make it illegal to log on to an open network. Using someone’s connection to check your e-mail isn’t like hacking into their bank account.
I hope the part about the FCC is true. I was especially heartened to learn about New Hampshire’s take:
A bill that’s breezing through New Hampshire’s legislature says operators of wireless networks must secure them — or lose some of their ability to prosecute anyone who gains access to the networks.
Great. But here in California I’m still offline as I wait, unless I piggyback onto somebody’s unsecured wireless. And what if that connection is owned by a hot-tempered someone who might see me and take a baseball bat to my windshield because he thinks I gave him the Melissa virus?
This morning I thought I’d solved my ethical dilemma. I saw a cafe sign that advertised “High Speed Internet Access!” I practically fell over myself to get inside and order breakfast. But when I opened up the iBook, there was no signal.
The manager pointed me to a big old laminate console in the corner featuring a pay-as-you-go internet connection on the console’s computer. I was so disappointed I could’ve kicked it. Good for a quick e-mail check ($1 for ten minutes) but useless for downloading censuses.
Businesses should forget console boxes and T-Mobile service plans and instead offer free wireless internet access with purchase. Passwords could be printed on register receipts and change daily to shake off non-paying hangers-on.
I’d be a great customer, I swear. I’d much rather pay for an overpriced cup of coffee and get the Wi-fi along with it, than pay for T-Mobile’s overpriced service plans, which cost more than our home DSL does.
Until that great day comes, I guess I’ll wrestle with my conscience while I keep an eye out for angry guys with baseball bats.